Gameplay & Balance

- Overcharge System: Entering Overcharge mode now resets the cooldown of all abilities and dodge actions.

- Base Stats Adjusted:
- HP increased from 300 → 500
- Melee damage increased from 20 → 50
- Drone damage increased from 20 → 50

- Ability – Rocket: The Burning Ground effect after rocket impact now deals greater damage and applies a stronger DoT.

World & Systems

- Sector 01: Minor environmental fixes and adjustments.
- Enemy Spawn Flow: Updated and stabilized enemy spawn behavior across all sectors for smoother progression and better pacing.

\[ GAMEPLAY ]

• Increased matchmaking party size for Retakes to allow 4 players in a party.

• Fixed a case where players joining Retakes round during freeze time could spawn at a wrong spawn point.

• Fixed bot manager logic to make room for players by first kicking dead bots and bots who are not controlled by a human.

\[ MISC ]

• Stability improvements.

Champions, welcome to our fourth faction analysis!

We've braved the forges of Scales, endured the crypts of Eclipse, and navigated the ancient rainforest of Thorns. Now, we turn our attention to the steadfast forces of cosmic light: Essence.

We're distributing crucial intel on the lore and art of the Essence faction. The luminous, celestial spirit of light and magic. This nation of disciplined clerics, alchemists, and ethereal beings is ready to establish a defensive line that no foreign legion can breach.

Dive into our fourth dev blog below:

Lore

• Population: 2,432,557 

• Capital: The Azure Palace 

• Governing Body: Throne Ethereal (Prince Will-Yates) - The prince has elevated major families of the Ether Mining Guild to nobility, who, along with powerful celestials, act as an advisory council to the throne. 

• Notable Locations: The War Memorial at the Palace of Eternity, the Golem Factory at Harvest Bluff, the Ether Fields and the Peak of the Gale, the Azure Palace 

Lirai’s Gift: The Ether Fields  

The history of Essence stretches back before the rise of mankind. At the conclusion of the First Great War, Lirai, the goddess of magic, light, and soul, used her powers to infuse the tiered steppes and grasslands of Essence with wellsprings of arcane energy, creating the Great Ether Fields.    

By tapping into these fields, the mortals of Essence were gifted with unprecedented levels of magic, granting them arcane power to rival even the gods. This inexhaustible energy allowed the nation to power devastating war machines and incredible magicks, transforming their entire society. Essence quickly became the world’s leading magical powerhouse, brokering lucrative trade deals by distributing refined ether to the other factions.  

 

The Azure Palace  

For centuries, Essence was able to flourish under the direct, divine protection of Lirai, who guided the governing body known as the Azure Throne. Their goal was singular and focused: peace and unparalleled magical development. This deliberate neutrality kept the territories of Essence untouched by the endless politics and skirmishes of Terrene Gall.  Their flying capital, the Palace of Eternity, remained a shining beacon of magical purity and prosperity.  

The Catalyst of War  

Unfortunately, that peace did not last.  

When the Dragon Tyranny of Strife sent a strike force to target the very heart of Essence’s power, the Palace of Eternity, the swift destruction resulted in not just damage to the capital itself, but massive loss of trading infrastructure and capital.  

In an instant, the Azure Throne was forced to shift its focus from commerce to survival and divine retribution. They immediately canceled all ether shipments and redirected the nation’s entire magical output toward military production. This surge of production fueled the creation of a standing army of tireless Golems, summoned powerful Celestials, and mobilized monks and conjurers, sworn to the defense of the Azure palace.  

The Nation of Essence did not ask for war, but they will be damned if they do not deliver a conclusion to it. 

Art/ Inspiration 

Arcane Refinement  

Essence stands as the pinnacle of arcane technology in the land of Terrene Gall due to their seamless fusion of pure magic and sophisticated machinery. They derive their immense power from the ether present in their homeland, harvesting it to power their weapons and technology. Like Thorns and Scales, their core drive is the preservation of their home and highly cultivated civilization.  

Being a faction that is dominated by mages and alchemists, the faction's visual signature is one of celestial power and intricate detail.  Their units are saturated with intricate runes, ethereal effects, magical creatures, and celestial beings. Their deep connection to Lirai, combined with their technological superiority, makes them the most ornate and visually lavish of all the factions.  

Essence warriors are clad in flowing white robes and heavily embroidered silks that are draped over refined leather and cloth underlayers. Their armor, typically made of gleaming gold or bronze, is more than protective. It is a work of art – etched with elegant, polished motifs that never bear a smudge or imperfection, unlike the grit and grime present on Eclipse’s armor. Their creature companions are ethereal and elemental, beings of immense power who are sustained by the very ether that this faction draws upon.   

Their sophisticated, arcane-powered machinery is defined by an almost unnatural elegance and intricacy. Paradoxically, or a faction that rules the skies, their aesthetic is inspired by the deep ocean. In the land of Terrene Gall, they are most like a modern Atlantean civilization. This faction is a testament to the pursuit of absolute knowledge and the refined, beautiful, and sometimes terrifying mastery of the arcane. 

  

Environment

Essence resides among the ether-infused tiered steppes of Terrene Gall, the terrain primarily made up of grasslands with rocky outcroppings. Parts of the land have broken apart and now float due to how their magic has changed the laws of nature in this location. Water sometimes pours over these sky islands in spectacular waterfalls and shrines and magical ruins punctuate the landscape. Flying machines and magically-fueled zeppelins float lazily around the high parapets of the great cathedral in crystal blue skies with large, picture-perfect cloud structures. 

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3654560/Plants_vs_Zombies_Replanted/

Fix
- inventory food doesn't give effects
- sleeping doesn't wear down effects

Polish
- food effects tooltip

- Add better validation for mod list

- Fix Moneymaker and similar Upgrades for the 100th time, for all time

- Fix Thingy offline XP gain being based on a random roll within their duration range

- Fix mod window refresh button creating duplicate mod nodes

- (For modders) A handful of crap

0.2.27 wouldn't launch

0.2.28 had debug mode still enabled

These changes are for the online beta. Any general changes will be added to the main version of the game in a future update. It contains the following changes:

• Cirno and Daiyousei now available to try out.

• Ping now capable of being seen by the host.

• The bug where the game hangs before the character select screen online has been patched.

• Cirno's desperation can now be disabled by having the ball hit the wall, but the wall will lose an extra 50 points.

Projectile

• Every individual projectile may now target the closest opponent to their proximity. This means that the bullets won't target the same opponent as a group as often as before.

Bomb

• Improved coding so that Dai will now stop the ball every time she teleports, even if its off screen.

Announcing our latest game: time-looping puzzle ballad The Marvelous Raincaster of Yell Holler! Unravel the legend of a weather-making rooster with the assistance of a traveling conman salesman and a strange cast of hand-drawn and animated characters.

If you're in London this weekend, you can play an in-person demo of Raincaster in the Leftfield Collection at EGX! Leftfield is legendary for its annual curation of the “weird and wonderful" and also showcased Burly Men at Sea a few years back, so we're honored they've brought us back.

In honor of Raincaster's big news and EGX, our much-loved folktale adventure game Burly Men at Sea and its soundtrack are 70% off through Monday! We've even got a fancy Steam Deck Verified page now, which is exactly how we'd recommend you play it.

P.S. Don't miss Raincaster's brand new trailer in all the excitement!

🌧️

• added music for the ripper dripper fight and ending cinematic

• added the doll jumpscare

• 2 shots from the ending cinematic were changed (the hair in one shot was bothering me) this will only be in the mp4 version the game version is still the same

An update has been pushed out to address a vulnerability in the Unity engine.